#ThankYouTeacher – Disabled students pay tributes to favourite teachers

As part of our September campaign #ThankYouTeacher, we have been bringing you stories of teachers who have made a difference in the lives of the disabled people they have taught and mentored. In this story we have some students who recall the teachers who taught them to look beyond their disability.

Delhi-based student and blogger Vinayana Khurana has the gift of creating magic with words. This postgraduate in English Literature from Delhi University, says words enable her mind to break free of the physical limits that cerebral palsy brings. A remarkable ability that she says was inspired by a teacher in middle school.

“My earliest memories are of Madhu Sharma ma’am, my middle school headmistress who was like my second mother in school”, recalls Vinayana fondly. “She was a warm person, always encouraging me to do better in life. Her motivating words meant so much to me and helped me get a better perspective in life.”

For Simran Chawla, the well-known Radio Udaan host, beauty pageant winner, actor, and model, who has low vision, the influences were many.

“There have been so many teachers who have made an impact on my life. Starting with school, there was a teacher, Leena ma’am, who taught me chemistry in class 12. She was just amazing and her lessons were always extremely interesting and kept all of us hooked to the subject.“ There were others as well she remembers. “Smita Misra, Suman Sharma, Samir Mansuri, Alka Khurana, Harmeet Kaur, Prashant Ranjan Verma, Prashant Kumar Bhurbhure, Kapil Singh. All my teachers have been very supportive and I can’t thank them enough.”

Sudhanshu Khurana, a student and musician in Delhi with his own YouTube channel, S K World, it was teacher in school Nisha Kaushik, who comes most to mind.

“I am partially blind person and I remember that Nisha Kaushik ma’am would always keep the confidence level of all students high. She was supportive, unbiased and helped us out whenever we had a problem. I have stayed in contact with her over time and always feel that she is an ideal teacher. There are other teachers I am thankful to such as Deepa ma’am, Mehta ma’am, Anita ma’am, Manju Gautam ma’am who is a special educator. I would like to thank all the teachers who have made a mark on my life and helped me be the person I am today.”

They say a good teacher is someone you remember all your life. These words are the best example of that.